How is power used in Fahrenheit 451?

Throughout the novel, the authoritarian regime maintains power over its populace through fear and mass media. Power in the hands of the government enables the regime to enforce strict laws prohibiting literature and intellectual pursuits, which can potentially challenge the ruling party. The government expresses its power through the use of force and punishment, particularly at the hands of the firefighter agency. Citizens who are engaged in intellectual pursuits are arrested and punished throughout the dystopian society. Many individuals, like Faber and the traveling intellectuals, fear the government and go into hiding. The firefighter agency not only destroys homes and property but also harms citizens through their use of the Mechanical Hound, which hunts dissidents. The government also uses its power to influence the media and educational system. Censuring intellectual content while propagating mindless entertainment encourages the population to indulge in sensory stimulating enterprises, like continuously watching the parlour televisions and playing sports. Power is essentially used to dissuade citizens from challenging the authoritarian regime. Through the use of mass media and fear, the government creates a hostile atmosphere, while encouraging citizens to remain passive and ignorant.

Overall, it could be said that power is used in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to make the average person passive and apathetic, and that power is maintained by keeping people this way. In the novel, Guy Montag's society keeps its citizens apathetic by burning books and encouraging the mindless consumption of media. By doing so, society also effectively bans free thought and critical thinking, as reading and books can be seen as vehicles for an active, curious, independent, and potentially disobedient mind. By ensuring that the average person does not think for him or herself and dumbly consumes media, the state also guarantees that no one will question or oppose it. In that case, we can see that, in the novel, power is primarily used to keep people ignorant, as independent thinkers are deemed to be too dangerous for the good of society.